Shadowlark: Aiaigasa
by UntappedChaos
Summary: They'd met in the rain, but he died too soon after. They never met again. But it's been twelve years, and more than time has passed. She's defied history, logic and fate... to find him again.  -Sequel Mini-series to Aiaigasa-
1. Made Alive

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't own **Naruto**. It belongs to Kishimoto-sensei and associates._

_**Note:** Don't forget to alert if you like; unlike the rest of my stories on this account, this isn't a oneshot.  
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**Made Alive**

_20FacesChizu_

There had been darkness, and pain. Screams permeated the air, and worms crawled over him, and fire scorched his feet. It was painful and terrifying, and he wanted away. Anywhere, as long as it was away.

It lasted an eternity. He'd lost track of any sort of time; in fact, he was sure that here, there wasn't any such thing as time. There wasn't any morning, or any night. There was simply darkness, pain and terror.

And then, he was suddenly shown a path. A path of dingy, gray light that was barely distinguishable from the infinite pitch around him, but he could definitely see a path. A doorway, really.

He pulled his feet from the floor, and they felt as if they'd been bound there. The sluggish, aching walk brought him there after so long he was sure he would've forgotten his purpose for moving if he hadn't kept his eyes on that door. The moment his fingers touched it, they burned and ached. But it was a different burning than that of the lightless flames that were incessantly licking over his body. He pressed forward; an arm, a shoulder, a nose at a time. He felt a peaceful calm around him, despite a familiar, lancing pain wracking his body.

He became aware that his eyes were closed. Moments ago, they'd definitely been open. So he opened his eyes, but almost immediately closed them again against a sudden, sharp light that was glaring down upon him. Someone was looking down at him, though he wasn't sure whom.

"Itachi-san, can you hear me? Please open your eyes."

The gentle but firm feminine voice was the first peaceful sound he'd heard in so long, it felt like he'd never heard anything else like it. His dark eyes opened, a very little bit at a time; even though the progress was slow, he could feel the girl at his side growing infinitely excited.

After a minute, everything came in to focus; the glaring sun, the sparkling river and the fragrant forest that surrounded them; sights so frightfully clear he marveled at the world, and wondered at how beautiful it was- moreso than anything he could even remember seeing before death. Above him though, was a sight he'd long forgotten.

It was the delicate pink hair and glittering green eyes of Haruno Sakura.

She smiled at him, and held up her fingers in the classical show of victory, a huge grin painted across her face.

"Welcome back to life, Itachi-san. Do you remember me?"

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**AN: This is the _Aiaigasa_ portion of the Shadowlark series. The prompts were received from my pastor's sermons and various songs; obviously, this one was taken from a sermon. When the Bible says that someone was "quickened," quickened in this sense means "made alive." It's such an interesting word, isn't it? I didn't originally connect this series of oneshots to my previous oneshot _Aiaigasa_, but now it makes more sense when I do. *grins* Enjoy_!_**

_Next Time: The Secret Room_**_  
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	2. The Secret Room

**The Secret Room**

_20FacesChizu_

The room he lived in was small. It fit a bed, a small dresser, and a dinette. On one wall was a shelf of books that was constantly changing, and in another corner was a pile of writing and drawing materials that never seemed to move.

This room was hidden. It was beneath his savior's home and personal research lab. She would come and visit him at least three times a day, bringing him meals and things to amuse himself with, and offering witty conversation that gave him a good challenge. Today, she'd let him enter her lab for the first time since a month previous, when she brought him back.

Twelve years had passed. _Twelve_.

Things had most certainly changed, but he had not. He was the same 21-year-old young man that he'd been when he died. In fact, even though he'd once been five years _older_ than Sakura, he was now actually seven years _younger_. The 28-year-old medic didn't let him forget it, when it came down to it. She was in charge of the situation.

He'd never seen more than the lab's botanical garden and the greenhouse. He'd never stepped foot out the front door. He didn't know what the world's mind set was, or what politics had taken place. Who was Hokage? He didn't ask, and she certainly wasn't saying. Even now, she had the blinds pulled across the front windows; he didn't know what was beyond them, and even if he was curious, he would never look. The back windows faced the west, and the setting sun was at just the right angle to cast rainbows all over her lab through the various jars, tubes and cups that littered her vast workspace.

This was her home. This was her space. 'His' space, however, was that little secret room beneath the floorboards.

For now, it was enough to be this way.

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**AN: Here's the next one! Aren't I fast? There are... three chapters left, I believe. Sorry to say only one out of those three has been finished, but don't worry; I've had inspiration for Shadowlark lately, and that's why I posted it. Besides, they're all shorties, so there's no worries! 8D Enjoy!**

_Next Time: Behind these Hazel Eyes_**  
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	3. Behind These Hazel Eyes

**To the person who signed 'leave it': IF I'M POSTING CHAPTERS THIS LONG CONTINUOUSLY, IT MEANS I'M DOING IT ON PURPOSE. If you're going to be rude, go flip yourself off. This is my ONESHOT account, and if you need an example of my non-oneshots, look up 20FacesChizu on here. Take a good gander at my ItaSaku fic _Carnival Ride_, because chapter 5 is NINE PAGES LONG. In case it's lost on you, you pissed me off. Now, since all you complained about was the length, would you like to try critiquing oh, I don't know, my technique?**

**TO EVERYONE ELSE: Please enjoy, and huggles and cookies for all the reviews!**

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**Behind these Hazel Eyes**

_20FacesChizu_

When he opened his eyes for the first time in twelve years, the very same as the day he'd died, she hadn't known what to expect. He was living again. _Living_. His eyes and body were healed of all disease, and he _lived_.

At first, he'd been silent. He'd stared at her, pure _wonder_ on his face… and then he cried.

Silently.

Never once did he look away from her eyes.

After a while, his eyes fell closed again, and he slept. She remembered carrying him back to the small, hidden room beneath her lab that she had fixed for him; and she placed him on the bed there as carefully as she could, tucking his body beneath the blankets to warm him.

Every morning for two weeks, he would wake up when she brought him breakfast, and the meal would go cold as he sat there and cried silently, just watching her. Then, slowly, he began to join her. He would be in wonder of the smallest things. A book he'd read before and remembered, a topic he'd often discussed with someone he knew well; the sheer happiness that he seemed to feel at the tiniest caress of her hand, or the soft tone of her voice was childishly innocent and beautiful. He loved warm blankets, adored sweet foods, and read everything he could get his hands on. He asked her many things about her profession; about plants, animals, humans, and jutsu. Like a sponge, he was absorbing _life_.

But at night, he would always be just like he had been in the beginning. He would slip under the blanket, and the moment she turned out the light he would stiffen, and waves of anxiety would fill the room. She'd begun to light a lamp for him, to chase away the fear of darkness.

He'd told her, you see. Hell is a terrifying place, where not even the fires that burn you for eternity produce light. Where you simply scream in pain through ages that are neither day nor night, while you are devoured by worms, and consumed by fire, and the piercing cries of pain from others are the only sounds that fill your brain.

These were the terrors he could see every night, behind his deep, black eyes.


End file.
